The "protracted battle over ownership of Sky will be all but settled" over 24 hours this weekend in a "rare" auction in which three global media companies "will go three rounds," according to Christopher Williams of the London TELEGRAPH. Comcast "will take on the tag team" of 21st Century Fox and Disney, with investors expecting the winning side to value Sky at "at least" £27B ($35.8B). The Takeover Panel, the city’s regulator of merger processes, will "act as referee" between the Murdoch family, which controls Fox and will line up alongside Disney Chair Bob Iger, and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. There will be three rounds of bidding. In the first round, "only the contender with the lowest offer going into the auction, currently Disney and Fox, will be able to bid." Comcast offered £14.75 ($19.55) per share for Sky, ahead of Disney and Fox's £14 ($18.56) per-share offer. In the second round, Comcast will be able to respond. If the U.S. cable firm, which also owns Universal, "does not bid then the auction will conclude with Disney and Fox the winner." However, if Comcast does "hit back" with a better offer, "then there will be a final round in which both sides will be able to make their best and final offers" (TELEGRAPH, 9/20).
